BOSTON – A Massachusetts anti-abortion group has unveiled a bill that would let individual taxpayers opt out of paying for publicly-funded abortions.

Under the measure, a taxpayer could choose to have whatever portion of their state taxes pays for abortion coverage directed instead to the Baby Safe Haven Law. That law allows parents to leave unwanted newborns at fire stations and other designated locations.

Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Anne Fox said the bill, one of several filed by the group for the new legislative session, would give residents who oppose abortion a way of exercising their conscience.

Andrea Miller, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said she had not seen the legislation but argued that tax dollars routinely go toward many things that an individual might not agree with.

“You don’t have an opportunity to opt out of a whole host of things that you might oppose,” said Miller.

The bill was one of several filed for the 2011-2012 legislative session by MCLF, which is encouraged by gains in the state House of Representatives. Republicans picked up 15 seats in the last election and with one race still in dispute now have 31 members in the 160-member body.

“We have gained a a lot of ground in the House,” said Fox. She conceded, however, that similar gains were not made in the Senate and that Gov. Deval Patrick would likely veto any measure that passed the Legislature.

The group’s top legislative priority, Fox said, remains a so-called “right to know” bill that would require a waiting period before an abortion and require doctors to give a woman seeking an abortion detailed information about the development of her fetus while also providing the option of viewing an ultrasound.

The measure has been introduced before but never made it out of committee, Fox said. She is hoping it will at least make it to the floor for a vote in the current session.

Miller, who said the Legislature remains solidly pro-choice, said the bill is intrusive and insensitive, and also unnecessary because Massachusetts already has an informed consent law.

NARAL Pro-Choice has filed its own package of bills for the new legislative session, including one that would lower the age of consent for abortions from 18 to 16. Under current law, most minors need consent from at least one parent or a court order before they can obtain an abortion in Massachusetts.